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Survivors Benefits & Need-Based Grants

Hi all,
I'm starting to look at colleges and money is a huge issue for me. My father died in 2005 and my mother is unemployed. However, my family receives monthly Social Security "Survivors Benefits" checks but to my knowledge, that money does not have to be addressed in your FAFSA.
My grades are high and I will probably be the valedictorian of my graduating class; do you think that I will fare well when applying for financial aid?
Does anyone have experience in a similar situation?
Thanks xx

Replies to: Survivors Benefits &amp; Need-Based Grants

There are several threads in this forum on the topic of Guaranteed Merit-based Scholarships. In some cases those are true free rides (tuition, fees, housing, meals, book allowance). Read through those threads and see if you qualify for any of those scholarships. Some have early cut-off dates, so you will need to apply soon if you will start college in 2013.

SS payments are generally not all that much. Any untaxed SS payments are NOT reported anywhere on the FAFSA. Taxed payments are on the IRS form 1040, which is used to complete the FAFSA. Do you know what your mom's AGI was for 2011? Did you have to file a tax return in 2011? If so, what was your AGI?

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